Background: The aim of this study was to assess non-communicable disease risk factors in children of parents with an ECG evidence of myocardial infarction (MI), and compare them with children from families with no such parental history.
Materials and methods: Of 15005 participants in the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study, all individuals over the age of 30 years underwent routine ECG exams. Among these, 303 off springs aged 3-30 years, who had one or two parents with possible or probable myocardial infarction (MI) according to the Minnesota coding were selected. An age and sex-matched sample of 601 off springs who had no parental evidence of ECG-defined MI were randomly selected as the control group. Risk factors studied were: BMI, blood pressure, FBS, total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, triglycerides and the metabolic syndrome.
Results: A "paternal" and "parental" history of MI was associated with a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity, respectively, (34.9% vs. 24.8 %) and a lower prevalence of high blood pressure, (12.2% vs. 18.1%), in their off springs. Likewise, in male children of fathers or both parents with ECG evidence of MI, a lower prevalence of hypertension was noticed, Compared with the control group, in female children of mothers with a history of MI,a higher prevalence of elevated serum LDL-C was found (28.0% vs. 10.7%) (p<0.05). Paternal MI was associated with increased prevalence of higher body mass indices (BMI) in their off springs (OR=1.6 95% CI: 1.1-2.4p<0.05).
Conclusion: There is a significant familial correlation between paternal history of MI and overweight and obesity in their offspring.